More Thλn Meets the Eye REMAKE
by Felicity101
Summary: Adrian Shephard is thrust into a brave new world to assist Gordon Freeman's mission to bring down the Combine empire. When the two of them reluctantly set aside their differences, they realize that there is so much more to this mission and each other than meets the eye...
1. Prologue: In the Shadows

**_A/N: An experiment to see how the Half-Life universe would be alternated by the early return of Adrian Shepard. Yes, I am perfectly aware that I have deleted it 4 times before and that this is the 5th time I uploaded it. For one, I realized that I had too many OCs at one time, so say bye-bye to Vondra, at least for now. Lucian and Mortifera were supposed to be a couple Combine experiments (that used an alien race of my own creation) that rebelled against them and allied with Gordon, Alyx, Vondra, Adrian, and Fernanda(speaking of which, she WILL come back, just later on in the story than I had intentioned). I took them out, too. It should be much easier to follow now. R&R!  
P.S: The quote will make more sense as you go along with the series.  
_**

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_**"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."****  
**_~Antoine de Saint-Exupery_  
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**Prologue: In The Shadows**_  
_

_Subject: Shephard, Adrian Robin  
_

_Status: Reactivated_

_Assignment: Assist G. Freeman_

THE MAN HAD QUICKLY GROWN TIRED OF THE ENDLESS BLACK ABYSS THAT SURROUNDED HIM. THERE WAS NOTHING INTRIGUING ABOUT THIS LITTLE PERSONAL HELL, JUST PENETRATING DARKNESS THAT STRETCHED ON FOR WHAT SEEMED TO BE FOREVER. THE MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS THAT HE HAD SIFTED THROUGH TO KEEP HIMSELF OCCUPIED WERE RUNNING DANGEROUSLY LOW. THE MARINE YEARNED NOTHING MORE THAN FREEDOM, A WISH THAT WOULDN'T BE GRANTED ANYTIME SOON, BY THE LOOKS OF THE SITUATION.

Suddenly, a white light burst into his view, blinding him. Squinting his hazel eyes at the bright light, he noticed that the light source was a "doorway", surrounded by the same darkness he had grown to despise. A silhouetted figure appeared at the "door" right before the light poured into the room, bathing it in pure white. The man's features became visible at once.

The marine's face curved into a scowl. He instantly knew who the man was. His weathered, pale face, his cold, icy blue eyes, the blue business suit, the way he stood his stiff movements... he was unmistakable. This was the man, the man that had trapped him in that hellhole of a prison in the first place. The marine's hatred of the man burned in his heart as he approached. The man stopped in front of him, and began to speak.

"Your assistance is required once again, Corporal... Shephard," he began in a raspy voice, his speech pattern strange and foreign. Adrian quirked his eyebrow in question.

'_What the hell is that supposed to mean?' _Adrian snapped. '_It's not like you had any interest in me before. In fact, you acted like you wanted me out of the picture. What's different now?' _

"Well,' he replied, "the... circumstances have changed since the last time we met. It seems to be that there are some...matters to be attended to. My other...employee isn't as he first...appeared."

"Not to say that he isn't...to my use...but he isn't as strong as I first believed...despite his...skills of survival in the most hopeless of...situations," the man continued. "Where his weaknesses lie...is where you come in, Shephard. You will be assisting in his...objectives...which I assure you,_"_ he added with a slightly grim tone of voice, "Are much different than back at Black Mesa..._" _The man started walking away. He stopped abruptly, and he turned to face the marine once more before disappearing.

"All that there is left to say is...Not everything is as it seems..._"_


	2. Our Hero Awakens

**Warning:_ If you just HATE fics where Gordon talks, TURN BACK NOW. If you want me to write one where he is mute, feel welcome to ask (or if you want more complicated romance between Gordon and Alyx. He talks in that one, though). I may not get to it, and if I don't, I'm sorry. Just a note, this fiction is going to take on a rather, shall I say, "interesting" personality for Gordon. It's really different than everybody else's. Most is going to be in Gordon's POV. Might have a couple Christian themes and controversial subjects.R&R!_**

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_**_"_****Long lost words whisper slowly to me,_  
_Still can't find what keeps me here,_  
_When all this time I've been so hollow inside,  
I know you're still there..."**  
_~"Haunted" by Evanescence_  
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**Chapter One: Our Hero Awakens...**

_Subject: Freeman, Gordon Ross Alexander  
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_Status: Reactivated_

_Assignment: Classified_

GORDON'S DULL, TIRED EMERALD EYES WERE GREETED BY UNRELENTING DARKNESS. HE FRANTICALLY TRIED TO MOVE, TO STRETCH HIS SORE, STIFF MUSCLES, BUT HIS ATTEMPTS REMAINED FUTILE. THE YOUNG MAN FELT HORRIBLY NUMB, UNABLE TO DETECT WHETHER IT WAS THE STILL STRONG EFFECTS OF LITHIUM AND MORPHINE ON HIS BODY OR THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS POWERS OF HIS MYSTERIOUS EMPLOYER.

Time seemed to drag on and on in the unbearable black abyss. Gordon had quickly exhausted his usually overactive mind to the point where the very act of thinking had lost all of its appeal. He yearned desperately for freedom, or at least something to occupy him, to stimulate his acute senses that had been terribly neglected in this prison. Despite how much he wanted to be free, there was a nagging, yet probably factual voice tormenting him in the back of his mind that told him again and again that the chances of escape were extremely slim, especially considering the time that he had been trapped. To aggravate the already fragile matters he had to endure, the infinite void was slowly driving the young physicist mad, to the point that Gordon was teetering on the brink of insanity...

Suddenly, a small, almost invisible light started to shine in the center of Gordon's vision. After few moments of nothing, the twinkling light was quickly joined by other brighter, more intense ones, until they filled the darkness. It reminded him of a clear night back on Earth, full of bright stars. A weak smile tugged at the physicist's lips; he couldn't help but remember a silent, peaceful night long ago. He shut his eyes, letting the imagery morph and form in his mind.

"Rise and shine, Mister Freeman... Rise and... shine..."

Gordon was forced to snap back to attention as the cold, foreign, and all too familiar voice suddenly filled his ears. The young man blinked, his tired mind unable to process where he had heard the voice before. Had he really gone insane?

'_No, that isn't it,' _he thought, _'That happened a long time ago, and I never heard voices... well. not usually anyway.'_

In an instant, it all came rushing back. It was the suited man that had offered him employment, the "G-Man" as Gordon had dubbed him.

Gordon tried to catch the sight of the blue business suit clad man. Although to no avail at first, the G-man's figure came into sight, his icy blue eyes staring into Gordon's. It sent a dreadful chill run down his spine. After the short eye contact, the G-Man continued, looking away.

"Not to imply that you have been... sleeping on the job...No-one is more deserving of a rest... and all of the effort in the world would have gone to waste until-" There was a long pause as if he was trying to come up with the right words. "Well, let's just say that your... hour has come again..."

The darkness surrounding the two of them faded into the scene of a factory of some sort. A complex array of railing systems criss-crossed the room, each carrying hundreds of large, metal pods to their final destination. Gordon focused on one of the pods, trying to gain view of more details.

Before he managed to do so, however, their surroundings once again changed. The scene was now a hauntingly familiar view: Black Mesa's Anomalous Materials test chamber C-33/a, the Anti-mass Spectrometer on full power. The harsh yellow beams of light cast out from the machine sent a nervous dread through Gordon's heart and mind, yet another reminder of the catastrophic day.

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." Gordon's attention immediately turned back to the G-Man. His figure backed away from him as the blackness returned. "So wake up, Mister Freeman... Wake up... and smell the... ashes..." With that, a white light engulfed Freeman…


	3. Decode (I dont have a better name 4 it)

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_**"Once you start asking questions, innocence is gone..."**  
_~Mary Astor_  
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**Chapter Two: Decode**

The searing white light engulfing me slowly tapered off, leaving behind a dazed and very confused Gordon Freeman. As soon as gravity took effect, my knees faltered, and my legs nearly gave out under the unfamiliar burden of my weight. I stumbled into a seat, unable to remain standing.

I rested my head upon the wall behind me tiredly. Oh God, I felt awful. My entire body ached horribly and felt as though it were on fire, my muscles too tense and stiff to even use. There was an intense, hung-over throbbing in my skull, and I felt terribly nauseated. Black Mesa had taken a bigger toll on my body than I had expected. Tensely gnawing on my lower lip, I took a deep breath to relax myself and distract from the pain. Instead, I nearly gagged on the stench of blood, sweat, and gasoline.

Distracting? Yes. Relaxing? Not so much.

After growing accustomed to the vomit-inducing stench, my gaze wandered. I quickly realized that I was on a filthy, worn-down subway train. The ripped, etiolated seats probably used to be a deep maroon, and the dull steel walls had lost their luster after what was surely years of use and neglect. I glanced out the window, searching for clues to piece together where I was. There was nothing particularly interesting about the Eastern European architecture, just that-

'_Wait... Europe?'_ I pondered,_ 'That... that can't be right. Last time I checked I was in the midst of the Chihuahuan Desert. There's no way that **he** could take me half-way across the world in a matter of seconds... at least, I don't think there is... No, there has to be a more reasonable expl-'_

Before my train of thought was given the opportunity to be completed, the train lurched to a stop. As the door prepared to slide open, I forced myself to get up and stepped forward, my legs instantly protesting. (In all honesty, after what **I** put them through, can you really blame them?)

An aged man standing at the door, probably in his mid-fifties, turned to acknowledge me with dim eyes. "Well, end of the line," he dully stated. A foreboding chill tingled down my spine after the words left his lips, a quiet voice in the back of my mind warning me that he was speaking of more than just the train... and as I learned later on, I was right. Little did I know that I was practically walking straight into the fires of Hell... a living Hell that I had unknowingly created...

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**A/N: Thanks to iDog for your feedback.**

** Originally, I had a MUCH longer chapter, but that line was too good not to end there. Like before, the quote will make a lot more sense as we go along.  
As you can see, I didn't change this chapter all that much from the original, except for some different wording and a shorter length, but the rest of the story is going to follow a much different plotline that before. Also, my personality and look for Gordon and Adrian has changed significantly since I first began writing and drawing Half-Life fanfics and fan art. I'm going to post something on DeviantART showing my "evolution" of Gordon and Adrian pretty soon, along with their relationships with each other and the other characters.  
**


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